White Sox Announce 60-Man Additions
The White Sox announced the addition of 16 players to their 60-man player pool Tuesday. They’ll all head to the team’s alternate camp site in Schaumberg, Ill. Today’s additions include (* = non-roster invitee):
Right-Handed Pitchers
Left-Handed Pitchers
Catchers
Outfielders
As Opening Day draws nearer, the White Sox will option additional players to their alternate camp site. There are currently 43 players in big league Summer Camp with the South Siders, and they’ll need to trim that number to 30 by the time the opener rolls around.
Today’s list of additions contains several notable names, including 2020 first-round pick Garrett Crochet, whom the Sox selected 13th overall out of the University of Tennessee. Farm director Chris Getz isn’t ruling out the possibility of Crochet making his MLB debut sometime this year, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score tweets.
Getz also spoke about another recent White Sox first-round pick in Zack Burdi, whom they took 26th in 2016, saying (via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times): ‘We hope to build off how he finished major league camp. It’s the best we’ve seen him in a while. His last couple outings were very encouraging. It’s a special arm.”
Significant injuries have prevented the hard-throwing Burdi from realizing his potential or even reaching the bigs since the White Sox drafted him. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, barely pitched the following year as a result, and then succumbed to a ligament tear in his patella last season. Burdi’s still a well-regarded relief prospect, though, and may have a chance to factor into Chicago’s bullpen this season.
Cubs Make 3 Additions To Player Pool
The Cubs have added three pitchers – right-hander Keegan Thompson and a pair of lefties in Justin Steele and Jack Patterson – to their 60-man player pool, per Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago. They’ll report to the team’s alternate facility in South Bend, Ind., and will increase the Cubs’ pool to 54 players.
Thompson, now 25 years old, was a third-round pick of the Cubs in 2017 who has since climbed to the Double-A level. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked Thompson as the Cubs’ No. 24 prospect last month, calling him a strike-throwing, “very stable fifth starter/swingman piece.” Thompson could be big league-ready right now, according to Longenhagen, so it’s possible he’ll make his debut during the shortened 2020 campaign.
Steele, also 25, entered the Cubs’ system as a fifth-rounder in 2014. He received his first extensive Double-A action last year, when he logged a 5.59 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 38 2/3 innings. Patterson’s another former Cubs pick (Round 32, 2018) who has maxed out at Double-A thus far. He threw 13 2/3 innings there last year, but most of his time was spent in Single-A and High-A ball. The 24-year-old was highly effective at all three stops, combining for a 1.69 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 over 79 2/3 frames.
Braves To Sign Yasiel Puig
5:35pm: Puig agreed to a one-year deal with Atlanta, per Charles Odum and Ben Walker of the Associated Press.
2:50pm: The Braves have agreed to a deal, pending a physical, with free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). The agreement brings to a close a lengthy free-agent saga for the mercurial Puig, who is a known commodity for Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos (formerly the Dodgers’ VP of baseball operations). Puig is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Puig, 29, was the most prominent name among unsigned free agents, having gone the entire offseason without agreeing to a deal and then enduring a league-wide transaction freeze during the pandemic that further slowed his path to a team. He reportedly received offers from the Marlins and Orioles along the way — as well as some interest from the Korea Baseball Organization — but Puig never found an offer to his liking it seems. It’s doubtful that he’ll command the sizable multi-year deal he sought over the winter in this new arrangement with Atlanta, but he’ll join a club with obvious postseason aspirations.
The Braves, of course, just lost one notable outfield option last week when veteran Nick Markakis announced that he will not play in 2020. Puig will give the Braves another accomplished bat who offered similar production to Markakis in 2019. While the Atlanta outfield was already largely set with Marcell Ozuna, Ender Inciarte and Ronald Acuna Jr., the addition of Puig will allow the Braves to rotate all their corner-outfield options (also including Adam Duvall) through left field, right field and DH while keeping everyone fresh. Acuna can also play center field in place of Inciarte, so we’ll surely see days where Ozuna, Acuna and Puig are lined up left-to-right in the outfield — perhaps with Duvall at designated hitter.
Puig split the 2019 season between Ohio’s two clubs, opening the year with the Reds before being moved to the Indians — while in the midst of an on-field brawl, no less — in the three-team blockbuster that sent Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati. While he was generally a solid bat, his offensive output didn’t quite mirror his past standards. Puig appeared in 149 games and, in 611 plate appearances, batted .267/.327/.458 with 24 long balls — albeit just two following his trade to Cleveland. In a season that saw enormous spikes in offensive output thanks to the altered composition of the ball, Puig’s line checked in right about at the league average (101 wRC+, 100 OPS+). That lines up quite similarly with Markakis (102 wRC+, 98 OPS+) but falls well shy of 2017-18, when Puig was roughly 20 percent better than a league-average hitter.
Given the difference in age, though, there’s more reason to expect a rebound out of Puig than there would’ve been from the 36-year-old Markakis. Adding Puig and Ozuna to an already strong core won’t make up for the loss of Josh Donaldson, but it’ll give the Braves an unquestionably deep reservoir of bats from which to draw as they look to nail down a third straight NL East division title.
From a defensive standpoint, Puig played an average right field last year according to each of Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average. His glovework in the past has ranged from passable to excellent in any given year, depending on one’s preferred metric. At the very least, though, it’s reasonable to expect Puig to be at least an average bat and an average corner defender, making him a nice pickup for Atlanta.
The Braves initially announced 56 players in their 60-man player pool for the 2020 season, although both Markakis and veteran right-hander Felix Hernandez can be subtracted from that number after opting out of the season. Atlanta has also had four players, including cornerstone Freddie Freeman, test positive for COVID-19. If any are placed on the IL as a result, they won’t count against the player pool. Even with no IL placements and after adding Bryce Ball to the player pool recently, the Braves will have space in their 60-man pool for Puig. The Braves also had a vacancy on their 40-man roster, so no corresponding move will need to be made to accommodate Puig’s presence on the roster.
Giants Add Jose Siri To Player Pool
The Giants announced Tuesday that they’ve added outfielder Jose Siri to their 60-man player pool. They claimed him off waivers out of the Mariners organization back in March, just days before the league shutdown began.
Siri, 24, spent the 2013-19 seasons in the Reds organization after signing as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. At one point he was considered one of the Reds’ best prospects and landed on the back of FanGraphs’ Top 100 prospects list, but the shine has worn off him in recent years. Siri raked at a .293/.340/.531 clip with 24 homers and 46 stolen bases as a 21-year-old in Class-A back in 2017, but in the two seasons since that time he’s posted a disappointing .238/.297/.397 slash between Double-A and Triple-A.
Following that pair of unimpressive seasons, Siri was designated for assignment when Cincinnati signed Nick Castellanos to a four-year contract this past offseason. Now with the Giants, Siri is a ways down the outfield depth chart; Hunter Pence, Mike Yastrzemski, Alex Dickerson, Jaylin Davis, Austin Slater and Steven Duggar are all likely ahead of him. Veteran Billy Hamilton is also in the Giants organization, but he was recently placed on the injured list. The Giants have top prospects Heliot Ramos and Alexander Canario in Summer Camp as well, but Canario hasn’t played above Low-A while Ramos has just 25 Double-A games under his belt. Neither is an immediate option, though Ramos is regarded as one of the game’s more promising outfield prospects.
The Giants initially announced 51 players in their 60-man pool, though they’ve since seen Buster Posey opt out of the 2020 season and shuffled the deck a bit, adding a few groups of players while also placing some on the injured list (which, if done for coronavirus-related reasons, opens additional vacancies in the player pool).
Orioles Add Dean Kremer To Player Pool
The Orioles announced Tuesday that they’ve added right-handed pitching prospect Dean Kremer to their 60-man player pool. He’s reporting to alternate training camp at the Orioles’ Double-A affiliate in Bowie, where he’ll be joined by righty Hector Velazquez, whom the club has optioned out of Summer Camp (per that same announcement). The O’s also put Richie Martin on the 60-day IL and removed him from their 60-man pool, which formally ends his season. Martin is set to undergo surgery to repair a broken wrist tomorrow.
Kremer, 24, was one of the pitchers acquired from the Dodgers in the trade that sent Manny Machado to Los Angeles. The former 16th-round pick had a solid year in 2019, reaching Triple-A and pitching to a combined 3.72 ERA with 9.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 0.87 HR/9 and a ground-ball rate just shy of 40 percent. Kremer also showed quite well in the Arizona Fall League (five runs on 13 hits and four walks with 23 strikeouts in 19 innings), and he’s generally considered one of the better pitching prospects in the rebuilding Orioles’ system.
Kremer ranks 11th or better among Orioles farmhands at Baseball America, FanGraphs an MLB.com, and scouting reports on the 6’3″, 180-pound righty project him as a fourth/fifth starter. Given that he’s already reached Triple-A and is on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, it’s quite possible that Kremer will make his MLB debut in 2020.
Juan Lagares, Kyle Barraclough, Seth Frankoff Elect Free Agency
The Padres announced Tuesday that a trio of veteran players have elected free agency. Outfielder Juan Lagares and right-handers Kyle Barraclough and Seth Frankoff are all returning to the open market and will now be free to sign with new clubs. None of the three had been included in San Diego’s player pool.
Lagares, 31, joined the Friars on a minor league pact back in February and, at least in the initial version of Spring Training, was seen as a legitimate candidate for the Opening Day roster. The organization’s thinking looks to have changed in the months since the March shutdown, and Lagares will now look for another club with interest in adding him to its player pool.
The longtime Mets outfielder posted a career-worst .213/.279/.326 batting line in 285 plate appearances last year, but Lagares remains a highly regarded defensive player who’d make a nice reserve option for any team with questionable outfield defense and/or an injury among the team’s starters. The Padres have a crowded outfield mix, however, and younger options they’d seemingly like to get a look at in this shortened season.
Barraclough, 30, was a quality late-inning arm with the Marlins from 2015-17, but he saw his production dip a bit in 2018 before completely cratering in 2019. In 33 2/3 frames between the Nationals and Giants last season, Barraclough was clobbered for 5.61 ERA thanks largely to allowing nine home runs in that short time. Control has always been an issue or Barraclough, who has averaged 5.5 walks per nine innings in the Majors, but he’s also never had a problem missing bats (11.4 K/9).
The 31-year-old Frankoff has just two Major League innings under his belt but is a veteran of eight minor league seasons and a pair of successful campaigns in the Korea Baseball Organization. Frankoff spent the past two seasons with the KBO’s Doosan Bears, pitching to a combined 3.68 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and 0.6 HR/9 in 266 2/3 frames (50 starts). Like Lagares and Barraclough, he joined the Padres on a minor league deal this winter in hopes of earning his way back to the big leagues with a strong camp showing, but he’ll now need to find another club to give him that opportunity.
Mets Add Seven To 60-Man Player Pool
The Mets announced Monday that they’ve added seven players to their 60-man player pool: right-handers Matt Blackham, Jordan Humphreys and Franklyn Kilome; left-handers Stephen Gonsalves and Thomas Szapucki; infielder Jake Hager; and catcher David Rodriguez. They’ve filled 58 of the 60 spots in their pool. MetsMerized’s Michael Mayer first reported that Blackham, Humphreys and Gonsalves would be added (Twitter links).
Of the new adds today, Szapucki is the most highly regarded of the team’s prospects, ranking seventh at both FanGraphs and MLB.com. A fifth-round pick in 2015, Szapucki returned from Tommy John surgery to log 61 2/3 innings of 2.63 ERA ball with 10.5 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 across three minor league levels in 2019. The 24-year-old topped out with four innings in Double-A, and while he wasn’t viewed as a candidate to log much time in the Majors this season, he’ll at the very least get in some developmental reps in the absence of a conventional minor league season.
Kilome, also 24, came over from the Phillies in the trade that sent Asdrubal Cabrera to Philadelphia back in 2017. He lands ninth on FanGraphs’ list and 12th at MLB.com on the heels of a 2019 season that he lost to his own Tommy John surgery. That procedure came back in October 2018, so Kilome should be largely back up to speed and ready to pick up after tossing 140 innings at Double-A that year. Kilome logged a 4.18 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. Kilome improved considerably upon being flipped to the Mets; in 38 innings with his new club his K/9 jumped from 7.3 to 10.0, and his BB/9 dropped from 4.5 to 2.4.
Among the other additions, the 26-year-old Gonsalves might be the most recognizable name. The former fourth-round pick was long a top prospect in the Twins organization and cracked multiple Top 100 lists as he rose through the minors, regularly drawing praise as a high-probability back-end starter. He never got much of a look in Minnesota, though (24 2/3 innings), and he’s been limited by arm troubles in recent years.
Humphreys, 24, is another arm on the mend from Tommy John surgery. He had a big 2017 season before surgery and will aim to work his way back into the team’s bullpen mix after pitching just 13 2/3 frames last year. Blackham posted sharp numbers last year, but he turned 27 in January and has only has 15 2/3 frames above Double-A to his credit. Hager and Rodriguez were minor league pickups this winter with limited offensive track records in the minors. Hager is a former first-round pick (Rays, 2011) who can play all over the infield, while Rodriguez brings some additional catching depth and a lifetime 39 percent caught-stealing rate to the table.
Tigers Release Zack Godley
The Tigers announced this morning that they’ve released right-hander Zack Godley. He’d been in Spring Training and Summer Camp as a non-roster player, though he seemed to have a reasonable chance of making the club. Godley’s initial deal was worth up to $3MM after incentives and allowed him to elect free agency at season’s end even though he’d normally have been arbitration-eligible. That was surely a notable incentive for the 30-year-old, but it seems the Tigers’ thought process has changed. MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets that Godley had an opt-out prior to Opening Day anyhow, and the team wanted to give him some extra time to find a new club.
Godley has spent the vast majority of his career with the Diamondbacks, for whom he racked up 520 2/3 innings from 2015-19. His best season came back in 2017, when he spun 155 innings of 3.37 ERA ball with 9.6 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 0.87 HR/9 and a 55.3 percent ground-ball rate. He followed that up with a career-high 178 1/3 frames and a 4.74 ERA (3.82 FIP) in 2018.
Last season, however, Godley’s strikeout rate and ground-ball rate plummeted. His sinker sat at just 90 mph after averaging 91.9 mph in that strong 2017 season, and hitters were able to elevate the ball against him like never before (11.1 percent launch angle in ’19; 3.1 percent in ’17). The end result was an ERA north of 6.00 in 76 innings with the D-backs, although he did post better results upon landing with the Blue Jays (3.94 ERA in 16 innings).
All told, Godley has experience in parts of five Major League seasons, during which time he’s pitched to a 4.70 ERA (4.13 FIP, 4.07 xFIP) with averages of 8.6 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 1.04 HR/9. His sinker didn’t have its usual effectiveness last year, but half the balls put into play against Godley since his MLB debut have been put on the ground. For a team in need of some rotation depth and/or a long relief option, Godley could certainly hold some appeal. With three-plus years of MLB service time, he’d be controllable through the 2022 season (barring a similar clause to the one he had with Detroit, allowing him to hit free agency early).
From the Tigers’ vantage point, Godley seemed like a long shot to make the rotation after a long delay, as the extra down time gave righty Michael Fulmer time to recover from Tommy John surgery. Fulmer will join Matthew Boyd, Spencer Turnbull, Jordan Zimmermann and offseason signee Ivan Nova on Detroit’s starting staff, though Godley could’ve given them a sixth starter/long relief type of arm early in the year. His release could open the door for another option like Hector Santiago or Nick Ramirez. Eventually, the Tigers may call upon a top pitching prospect like Casey Mize, Matt Manning or Tarik Skubal to get an audition.
Latest On Brewers’ Eric Lauer
5:31PM: Lauer “was in close contact with someone who had tested positive” for COVID-19, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters today, which caused his delayed arrival in camp. Lauer himself is healthy, thankfully.
TODAY, 8:51AM: Brewers manager Craig Counsell downplayed any issues regarding Lauer while speaking with reporters, including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter link). “He’s healthy,” said Counsell, who noted the southpaw “just got slowed down a little bit.” Counsell added that Lauer has a chance to be ready by Opening Day.
JULY 11: The Brewers placed left-hander Eric Lauer on the injured list, the team announced. The placement coincides with the news that Luis Urias and Angel Perdomo are also headed to the IL, and since those two players are known to have tested positive for COVID-19, speculation immediately emerged that Lauer’s absence could also be virus-related.
However, the Brewers did say that Lauer was recently out of action with an illness that wasn’t related to the coronavirus. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter links) guesses that this could be something of “a procedural matter” rather than a positive test, since Lauer is still cleared to participate in workouts and scheduled to throw a bullpen within the next few days. That said, McCalvy figures Lauer’s IL placement has something to do with COVID-19 protocols, as otherwise a specific reason would have been given to his condition. More will be known tomorrow when Lauer is scheduled to speak with the media.
Milwaukee acquired Lauer and Urias from the Padres last November, in a notable swap that saw Zach Davies and Trent Grisham head west to San Diego. Lauer was battling for a rotation job in Spring Training before being shut down with a shoulder impingement that would have seen him start the year on the IL had the season gotten underway as expected in March. Lauer was expected to be ready to participate in Summer Camp before being hit by this mystery illness.
The southpaw has a 4.40 ERA, 2.45 K/BB rate, and 8.2 K/9 over his 261 2/3 career MLB innings, starting 52 of his 53 games with the Padres. Since Lauer might not have enough time to get ready for the new Opening Day, the Brewers (one of the league’s more creative teams when it comes to pitcher deployment) could use him out of the bullpen to begin the year, or perhaps as a piggyback starter or bulk pitcher.
Tim Melville Reportedly Nearing Deal With CPBL’s Uni-President Lions
Former Rockies right-hander Tim Melville is nearing a deal with the Uni-President Lions of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League, per local reports (h/t to CPBL Stats). Colorado released the 30-year-old in May.
Melville has played with seven affiliated organizations (reaching the majors with the Reds, Twins, Padres and Rockies) since entering the pro ranks as a prized high school pitching prospect back in 2008. He’s had some high minors success in recent years, but hasn’t clicked at the MLB level. In 48 career innings over 13 appearances, Melville has a 6.75 ERA/7.63 FIP.
Melville was sidelined by a cracked rib this spring, but it fortunately seems that’s behind him. As CPBL Stats notes, he’ll need to wait out a 14-day quarantine, mandatory for all foreign travelers arriving in Taiwan, before he’s able to take the field.